Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
The sign that would be held out for Team Penske driver Gil de Ferran as he pulled into the pits at the 2001 CART race in Portland. He earned the number 1 by winning the championship the year prior, and for good measure would win it that year too. I could use signs like this to help me get ready in the morning. “Pants first, then shoes!”
Jimmy Vasser, driving for Patrick Racing, gives an interview at the end of Friday practice for the 2001 CART race at Portland International Raceway. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but I like to think she opened her interview, like all great interviews, by asking his favorite Knock Knock joke. To which the proper answer is, of course, banana/banana/orange. Did you give the right answer Jimmy?
Team Rahal driver Max Papis seems lost in thought during Friday practice for the 2001 CART race in Portland, but it is not as it appears. Seconds earlier he had been smiling and giving a thumbs up while talking to his team in a debrief, I just caught him while he was listening. On the other hand, it does I think capture some of the uncertainty and pressure of the start of a race weekend, when in a competitive series even a small mistake can have a big impact. On this weekend Max would have nothing to worry about, he won both the pole and the race.
Pat Patrick (the Patrick in Patrick Racing) watches his team during Friday practice at the 2001 CART race in Portland.
Roberto Pupo Moreno talks to his Patrick Racing crew during Friday practice at the 2001 CART race at Portland International Raceway. Some friends in graduate school introduced me to open-wheel racing in the mid-90’s near the end of Pupo’s Formula One career, he was so nice and unassuming I was pleased that not only did he then go on to race in Indycars, but I got a chance to see him a couple of times at the races in Portland. He’d finish second in the rainy race that Sunday.
A harbor seal pops up in the surf to take one last look at me before swimming away in the gentle surf at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area in Newport, Oregon.
Two people watch the endless crashing of waves against the rocky shore of Seal Rock State Park on the Oregon coast. The waves were pretty calm on this day but they can get pretty intense here. They seemed pretty confident that a giant sea monster wouldn’t rise from the ocean and swallow them whole. I kept my distance.
A sculpin is nearly hidden in the jumble of objects in the shallows of a tide pool at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area in Newport, Oregon. These small sculpin species will spend their lives in the tide pools, with birds and larger fish their primary predators.
Purple sea urchins sit in the depressions they’ve carved over time into the tide pool, minimizing the force of the waves as the tide comes in and out. I came across these urchins in 2004 on a sunny day at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area in Newport, Oregon. The picture below is a different set of urchins but taken on the same day, I’ve posted this one before but it was years ago.
Memo Gidley of Chip Ganassi Racing gives an interview on the weekend of the 2001 CART race at Portland International Raceway. Memo became known as Super Sub at the time, I believe this was the third time he was hired to take over a ride mid-season. I always hoped he would find a full-time ride but one of the downsides to racing is that it is hard for drivers like Memo who don’t come with financial backing. He had more luck in sports cars until injuries from a severe crash at Daytona sidelined him for a few years, but it sounds like he’s healed enough to return to racing.
Boolie 